Swedes drop conference opener

Thursday

Sep 5, 2013 at 4:59 PM

The Bethany College volleyball team opened up their home conference schedule against Bethel College on Wednesday.

Special to the Sentinel

The Bethany College volleyball team opened up their home conference schedule against Bethel College on Wednesday. Coming off a 2-1 performance at the Oklahoma Wesleyan Tournament Aug. 30-31, the Swedes were unable to carry their momentum into Wednesday evening as they lost 3-0 to the Threshers (15-25, 21-25, 22-25)."It hurt not having Maria tonight, but you can't just depend on one player," head coach Nathalea Stephenson said. "She is a big part of our offense and we had to make adjustments with only one day to prepare."The Threshers took an early 4-0 lead in game one as the Swedes struggled to fight back. Bethany was unable to catch Bethel as they lost 15-25. Bethany had a stronger start in game two, leading 10-8, but saw their lead slip away as Bethel worked back to earn a 25-21 victory. The Swedes battled in game three, taking an early 4-2 lead before leading 16-12. However, Bethany could not close down the stretch as they lost game three 25-22.Sophomore Bryanna Cool led the Swedes offense with 10 kills, followed by junior Alexa Gerber with six.Gerber added 15 assists as freshman Eileen Vlamis tallied nine. Senior Sarah Phelps totaled 12 digs while sophomore Quethzally Chaparro and senior Kaitlyn Davis had six each. Davis also contributed one solo block."We will be fine," Stephenson said. "We just have to get more reps and confidence with people playing different positions. We had a great crowd tonight and I hope they continue to support us."Bethany is currently 0-1 in the KCAC and 2-2 overall. The Swedes are back in action at the Avila University Tournament in Kansas City, Mo. Friday and Saturday. The squad faces Central Methodist University at 1 p.m. on Friday and Oklahoma Wesleyan University at 5 p.m. Bethany then squares off against Oklahoma City University at 3 p.m. Saturday, and ends the tournament with a matchup against Haskell Indian Nations University at 5 p.m.